A defense official has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the possible threats associated with Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been instructed to avoid talking about secret matters in all cars.
Safety Guidance for Defence Staff
During a recently aired appearance on LBC, Luke Pollard addressed claims that MoD staff have been told not to talk about secret material while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
He stated that the MoD is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but stressed that safety is a concern in every contemporary vehicles.
Our department has a fleet of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones represent a tiny fraction.
However whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our staff is not to plug Ministry of Defence devices into their vehicle, to avoid having conversations at a secret level in any kind of vehicle, because of the increasing threats of eavesdropping that exist in every single automobile, to restrict those confidential talks in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about security.
When it was suggested that it would be prudent for the ministry to stop using all cars from China, Pollard responded: ‘That’s precisely what we are looking into at the moment.”
Wider Security Context
This revelation comes as claims from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of multi-purpose shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable public transport and cause chaos to transport systems.
Furthermore, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at Royal Air Force aircrew, labeled a “highly dangerous” act by government representatives.
This broader defence environment underscores the importance of strong protocols and caution in every aspects of official operations, from vehicle use to communication practices.
